This thesis is a study on the Brazilian policy of funding scholarships abroad
for postgraduate studies. The main purpose of this research is to analyse the
changing rationale for this type of investment over time. The focus of the
investigation is on the Programme of Scholarships Abroad of CAPES, a major
funding agency of scholarships for postgraduate studies in Brazil and abroad.
To do this, the research was conceptualised in two distinct layers of
investigation. The first layer referred to the historical processes that have shaped the
issue of education abroad in Brazil. In the other layer of investigation, the way the
policy of CAPES was and is put into practice was examined. To link these two
layers of investigation, research interviews with people who know the Brazilian
academic environment well were conducted. In order to develop these themes, the
thesis has been strategically divided into six chapters.
Chapter One is the Introduction when the problem is located, the strategy
adopted to develop the topic is explained, and the concepts most used in the
research are defined. Chapter Two provides a historical review of the custom of
studying abroad among Brazilian upper classes, from colonial times up to the early twentieth century. Chapter Three describes the emergence of an institutional
infrastructure to build up high-level personnel, from the fifties onwards. Chapter IV
provides a type of more detailed information on what scholarships abroad consist in
practice, where a set of numerical data is offered. Chapter V is the analysis of the
interviews collected during the fieldwork.
Finally, the closing Chapter VI is an attempt to bring together the evidence
gathered throughout this study and to present an overall interpretation of the role of
the policy of scholarships in Brazil
